In brief

U.S. women win world hockey title

By wire services
Published April 10, 2005

LINKOPING, Sweden - The United States beat Canada 3-1 in a penalty shootout to win the Women's World Hockey Championship Saturday, ending the defending champions' run of eight straight titles.

Natalie Darwitz, Angela Ruggiero and Krissy Wendell scored for the Americans after regulation. Sarah Vaillancourt scored Canada's goal in the shootout, the first in championship history.

"It was amazing out there, both teams battled so hard and both goalies obviously played outstanding," said Ruggiero, a two-time Olympian who also played against men in the Central Hockey League in January.

"To finally win a world championship ... it took our program 15 years. But the longer the wait the sweeter the taste. We came so close so many times, to finally pull it off in a dramatic fashion like this feels unbelievable."

For the bronze-medal, it was the first third-place finish for Sweden in nine championships.

Rather than enlarging the nets as some propose, NHL managers decided to reduce the size of goalie equipment. Some of the changes being considered include: Removing bulk from the chest, ribs and arms so that a player who wore a 2X chest protector last year would be wearing a size large; taking 1 inch out of the leg pants and 1 inch off the length of the blocker; reducing the circumference of the glove from 48 inches to 45; reducing the width of the pads from 12 inches to 10; reducing the standard sweater by two sizes.

Colombian Fulgencio Zuniga survived a late knockdown and a one-point deduction to earn a 12-round draw with Jose Zertuche and retain his International Boxing Association middleweight title Friday night. ... In another middleweight bout, Jesus Gonzales stayed undefeated with an eight-round, unanimous decision over Chance Leggett, also after being knocked down. ... Argentine Jorge Ridrigo Barrios won the WBO junior lightweight title Fridy night, stopping previously unbeaten Mike Anchondo in the fourth round.... Former heavyweight contender Michael Grant overcame a first-round knockdown for an eighth-round knockout of Wallace McDaniel.

Norway beat the United States 10-6 in a tiebreaker to eliminate the Americans from the world championship Friday. Canada beat Finland 9-5 in another tiebreaker and won against Germany Saturday 8-6 to advance to the finals where it will face Scotland.

Andrew McLardy and Kyron Sullivan shared the lead at 9 under Saturday after three rounds of the Madeira Island Open. Robert-Jan Derksen and Gary Orr were one stroke back. McLardy shot a 3-under 69 with four birdies and a bogey. Sullivan, who led after the second round, carded a 1 over.

Lindsay Davenport won the first set in 19 minutes and routed Nadia Petrova 6-0, 6-3 Saturday to reach the final of the Bausch & Lomb Championships. The top-ranked Davenport will play for the title Sunday against Silvia Farina Elia, a 6-1, 6-3 winner over Virginie Razzano in Saturday's other semifinal.

CRICKET PLAYER DIES: Scott Mason, 28, died Saturday two days after having a heart attack during practice. Mason sat out the entire 2004-05 season after undergoing open-heart surgery and spent nine weeks in a hospital last year. Mason fell to his knees in the practice nets and then had a seizure in front of the Tasmanian coaching staff on Thursday.

[Last modified April 10, 2005, 00:40:18]